The War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870)

117 Pages·2009·1.22 MB·English

THE WAR OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE (1864-1870):
A HISTORICAL CASE STUDY ON THE CAUSES
OF REGIONAL CONFLICT

A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army
Command and General Staff College in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree

MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE
General Studies

by

Mr. Kenneth C. Ferris, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
B.S., Geology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, 1988

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
2009

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12-06-2009 Master‟s Thesis AUG 2008 – JUN 2009
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The War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870): A Historical Case Study on the 5b. GRANT NUMBER
Causes of Regional Conflict.
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6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER

Mr. Kenneth C. Ferris, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 5e. TASK NUMBER

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7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORG REPORT
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14. ABSTRACT

The War of the Triple Alliance, fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Brazil,
Argentina and Uruguay, was a Latin American regional war that spiraled out of control to become one of the
bloodiest international confrontations in the Western Hemisphere. Expanding beyond the ability of the combatants
to manage it, the war nearly devastated all the actors, particularly Paraguay, whose people suffered inconceivable
casualties and privations.

This thesis examines the War of the Triple Alliance as a historical case study to determine the complex causes and
catalysts behind this nineteenth century regional conflict. The case study presents the casus belli of each of the
primary actors, and infers that balance of power perceptions may have exacerbated the root causes of war. The
thesis argues that this little-known and misunderstood war holds unexploited lessons toward modern-day
applications in comprehending regional conflict.

15. SUBJECT TERMS
War of the Triple Alliance, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina
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ii
MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE
THESIS APPROVAL PAGE
Name of Candidate: Mr. Kenneth C. Ferris

Thesis Title: The War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870): A Historical Case Study on
the Causes of Regional Conflict.

Approved by:

, Thesis Committee Chair
LTC Prisco R. Hernandez, Ph.D.

, Member
Joseph R. Fischer, Ph.D.

, Member
Edward J. Robarge, Ph.D.

Accepted this 12th day of June 2009 by:

, Director, Graduate Degree Programs
Robert F. Baumann, Ph.D.

The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student author and do not
necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or
any other governmental agency. (References to this study should include the foregoing
statement.)

iii
ABSTRACT
THE WAR OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE (1864-1870): A HISTORICAL CASE
STUDY ON THE CAUSES OF REGIONAL CONFLICT, Mr. Kenneth C. Ferris,
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 117 pages.

The War of the Triple Alliance, fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the
Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, was a Latin American regional war
that spiraled out of control to become one of the bloodiest international confrontations in
the Western Hemisphere. Expanding beyond the ability of the combatants to manage it,
the war nearly devastated all the actors, particularly Paraguay, whose people suffered
inconceivable casualties and privations.

This thesis examines the War of the Triple Alliance as a historical case study to
determine the complex causes and catalysts behind this nineteenth century regional
conflict. The case study presents the casus belli of each of the primary actors, and infers
that balance of power perceptions may have exacerbated the root causes of war. The
thesis argues that this little-known and misunderstood war holds unexploited lessons
toward modern-day applications in comprehending regional conflict.
iv
To the memory of my Grandmother

Emma M. Ferris

December 8, 1911 – October 30, 1993
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to begin by thanking the members of my thesis committee: LTC Prisco
Hernandez, PhD, Dr. Joseph Fischer, and Dr. Edward Robarge for their thoughtful
guidance and assistance in developing the idea behind this thesis. Additional thanks goes
to Dr. Constance Lowe for her encouragement over cups of tea while discussing the
paper, and to Ms. Venita Krueger for her patient assistance in formatting this document.
My sponsor, COL William M. Raymond Jr., Director of the Command and
General Staff School, spilled copious amounts of red ink on my draft manuscripts, and
for that, I thank him. If the reader finds this thesis legible and grammatically correct,
COL Raymond deserves the praise.
Love and appreciation goes to my wife Marta, a native Paraguayan, for her
assessment and clarification of Paraguayan history, and for her careful translation of
source documents, books and articles from Spanish to English. Finally, a loving thank
you goes to my son Kyle, for regularly urging me to suspend studies for a short game of
catch or basketball in the driveway and for an occasional Scouting campout. Marta and
Kyle: I love you both beyond measure.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE THESIS APPROVAL PAGE ............ iii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii
ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................................ ix
TABLES ..............................................................................................................................x
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1
Background and Context ................................................................................................ 3
Primary Research Question ............................................................................................ 8
Secondary Research Questions ....................................................................................... 8
Significance .................................................................................................................. 10
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................13
Recommended Preliminary Reviews ............................................................................ 14
The Balance of Power ................................................................................................... 15
Broad Causes of the War .............................................................................................. 17
Why and How the War Got Out of Control .................................................................. 20
War‟s End and U.S. Mediation ..................................................................................... 22
War Dead ...................................................................................................................... 23
Possible Current Applications of Balance of Power Models ........................................ 24
Other Reviews and Recommendations ......................................................................... 25
Literary and Academic Interpretation ........................................................................... 26
Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................30
Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 31
Limitations .................................................................................................................... 32
Delimitations ................................................................................................................. 33
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 34

vii
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS .................................................................................................35
Secondary Question #1 ................................................................................................. 35
Secondary Question #2 ................................................................................................. 60
Secondary Question #3 ................................................................................................. 68
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 71
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................73
Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 73
Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 80
APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................84
REFERENCE LIST .........................................................................................................102
INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST ....................................................................................107

viii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page

Figure 1. Research Continuum on the War of the Triple Alliance ..................................17
Figure 2. View of the Region: Argentina and Brazil (circa 1830) ..................................38
Figure 3. View of the Region: Paraguay (circa 1864) .....................................................40
Figure 4. Countries of the Plata Region at the Onset of War ..........................................41
Figure 5. Regional Actors at Onset of War .....................................................................42
Figure 6. Mariscal Francisco Solano Lopez ....................................................................64
Figure 7. Dom Pedro II....................................................................................................65
Figure 8. Potential Regional Hotspots in South America ...............................................75

ix
TABLES
Page

Table 1. Timeline of Río de la Plata Regional Events ...................................................36
Table 2. Political Landscape in 1864 (Argentina and Uruguay)....................................43
Table 3. Political Landscape in 1864: (Paraguay and Brazil) ........................................44
Table 4. Historical Reasons for War (Argentina) ..........................................................46
Table 5. Historical Reasons for War (Uruguay) ............................................................47
Table 6. Historical Reasons for War (Brazil) ................................................................50
Table 7. Historical Reasons for War (Paraguay) ...........................................................53
Table 8. Outside Influences (U.S. and Great Britain) ....................................................58
x